Thesis advisor: Audrey Friedman / This dissertation investigates the discursive practices of elite high schools and the ways these practices create and preclude opportunities for social justice education. To conduct this critical discourse analysis I drew on the theoretical work of Khan (2011) and Howard (2008) to understand the role of language in the production and maintenance of power and privilege in elite private schools. Furthermore, the literature review on the discourse of social justice informed the selection of initial typologies, which shaped the primary reading of the data. Methodologically, I used Norman Fairclough and James Gee’s tools of critical discourse analyses for the data synthesis and analysis. One overarching questions was considered in this dissertation: As revealed through institutional documents, what are the discursive challenges and opportunities for enacting socially just education within elite high schools? A detailed Systemic Functional Linguistic analysis revealed three major findings. First, students are centered in the text samples and over time students become a larger focus of the discourse. Second, the discourse presents ethical values and knowledge as innate within students. Finally, the language among sample texts conforms over time, becoming less linguistically complex in both topic and construction and thus shifts from a traditionally academic tone to a more familiar tone. Using these findings as a focusing lens, a broader reading and analysis of the complete data set revealed that as discourse associated with discussions of diversity becomes more rigid, formalized, and prevalent in the text samples, institutional questioning and direct calls for social action become less frequent. Furthermore, over time, the discourse is less likely to engage in reflexive questioning and is more likely to engage in self-congratulation. Combined, the detailed linguistic analysis and the broader reading of the collected documents, suggest that the “discourse of social justice” is intertwined with counter discourses of privilege, entitlement, and individualism. Although institutions may currently talk more about issues of diversity and justice, this language functions as yet another measure of student privilege. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

High school marching bands have several performance options beyond the Friday night football game. These options range from non-competitive regional festivals to performance circuits that culminate in a final national contest. All of these extra-curricular events require resources such as funding, equipment, staffing, and parental involvement (Corral, 2001). The fundamental question was created to investigate opportunities available for participation in music regardless of socioeconomic status, geographic location, etc. Participation in music was explored from the vantage point of marching band – one of the most resource intensive programs in music. Marching band was used in this study because the activity often requires resources that go above and beyond what many administrators, parents, and some directors claim justifiable. The purpose of this causal-comparative study was to examine the effects that resources, financial and otherwise, have on directors’ decisions to participate in marching band competitions. High school marching bands from across the United States were compared to determine the amount of finances and resources invested by each program. The purpose was to find out if resources play a role in a band director’s decision to compete at various national or non-national events. Students who desire to participate in music should have the opportunity to participate in any extra-curricular event without regard to economic distinction. Even though marching arts are not offered at all high schools, those who do commit to investing extreme time and resources to the activity. The nature of marching band, coupled with the relatively small amount of scholarly research on marching bands and resources, made it a unique scenario worthy of further inquiry.

My dissertation is about the moral epistemology of a theory of injustice. The orthodox paradigm maintains that we require an ideal theory of a perfectly just society in order to justify the principles for dealing with injustice. In contrast, I show that a theory of injustice is not dependent on ideal theory and develop a pragmatic realist alternative by critically engaging with the work of Elizabeth Anderson. My approach is pragmatist in stressing the importance of testing our principles against actual experience of their practical consequences, but it is realist in holding that justification must take into account the unjust motivations and actions of other agents. Whether racial integration is an imperative of justice depends on the extent to which unjust opposition to it means that conflicting courses of action have a better chance of mitigating racial injustice.

This thesis is an exploration into the mechanism of Marxist materialism. It is an attempt, in the face of materialism, to regain a grasp on our intellectual lives. The promise, I will argue, is a nexus between the material and ideal realms; it largely determines the configurations of our thoughts along three poles: privacy/recognition, sovereignty/subjection, and individual/society. In this thesis, I will explore the history of the promise during the sixteenth-century development of the negotiable instrument- a form of the promise that could be bought and sold. This development, I will argue, led to a general transformation of language during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries such that the concept of the referent largely replaced the concept of the signifier. In the realm of mathematics, this transformation led to the creation of the symbolic variable; elsewhere, it led to the creation of what Mary Poovey has called the modern fact.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Ashland Theological Seminary, 2005. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 201-206).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 2005. / Title from title page screen, viewed on April 12, 2007. Dissertation Committee: Linda Lyman (chair), Patricia H. Klass, W. Paul Vogt, Carol Struck. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 160-168) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (M.A.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 180-185).

There is a crisis in mathematics education (National Research Council, 1989). This crisis has caused stakeholders to question the purpose of mathematics education. Teaching mathematics for social justice is a pedagogy that uses mathematics as a tool to expose students to issues concerning power, resource inequities, and disparate opportunities between different social groups to illicit social and political action (Gutstein, 2006). This study uses action research to explore the effects of incorporating social justice issues in mathematics with affluent, middle school students. Findings indicate that integrating social justice issues into mathematics affected some students’ cognitive and affective domains and in some cases led to empowerment and action. The study also found that students’ perception of responsibility, their age and personal connections along with the amount of teacher direction may have affected students’ development of social agency. These findings help to inform teachers’ practices and contribute to literature on critical mathematics.

There is a crisis in mathematics education (National Research Council, 1989). This crisis has caused stakeholders to question the purpose of mathematics education. Teaching mathematics for social justice is a pedagogy that uses mathematics as a tool to expose students to issues concerning power, resource inequities, and disparate opportunities between different social groups to illicit social and political action (Gutstein, 2006). This study uses action research to explore the effects of incorporating social justice issues in mathematics with affluent, middle school students. Findings indicate that integrating social justice issues into mathematics affected some students’ cognitive and affective domains and in some cases led to empowerment and action. The study also found that students’ perception of responsibility, their age and personal connections along with the amount of teacher direction may have affected students’ development of social agency. These findings help to inform teachers’ practices and contribute to literature on critical mathematics.

Through a case study of the experiences of eight undergraduate students participating in the St. Thomas More College/Intercordia Canada international community service-learning programme (2008), this thesis seeks to assess whether the participants learning has proved transformational through an analysis of the forms and processes of transformative learning as developed by Richard Kiely (2002, 2004, 2005). Content analysis of semi-structured student interviews (pre and post-participation), programme materials, student journals, academic reflections and essays reveal transformative shifts across the political, moral, intellectual, cultural, personal and spiritual learning domains. The study adds to the research on international community service-learning through an analysis of Kielys transformative learning theory in a new context, and explores how context affects learning processes. Findings indicate the dynamics of participant vulnerability and acceptance from host communities can provide for transformational relationships of solidarity across difference.